GDC 2008: Sawano on Wii Fit
February 20, 2008 - Nintendo director Takao Sawano gave a speech at 2008’s Game Developers Conference focused on the process of creating the company’s hit exercise title WiiFit. The EAD veteran first revealed that as of last week, the $80-plus peripheral and software package had sold more than 1.4 million copies in Japan since its release in December. He then described the process of designing the Wii Balance Board, the technical perimeters of the device, and how developers might utilize it in unique ways going forward.
Sawano showed a conceptual diagram created by Shigeru Miyamoto which outlined the future of the Wii platform. Interestingly enough, the diagram, which contained references to Wii Sports and “Wii Health Pack” (later renamed to WiiFit), was conjured well before even the Wii console was competed. Miyamoto also had a thought about the concept powering WiiFit, which Takao quoted. “I have fun just weighing myself and collecting my weight data,” Miyamoto wrote. “So this idea is bound to lead to something interesting.”
The developer explained that Nintendo eventually used a mechanic first implemented in the N64 controller — the rotary encoder — in the Wii Balance Board.
courtesy IGN.com